Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not - Jan. 1
Russell J. Moore, GoLocalProv MINDSETTER™
Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not - Jan. 1
Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not - Jan. 1
HOT
Michael Sepe
The Chairman of the Cranston Democratic Committee is poised to take on Republican Mayor Allan Fung in next year's mayoral election on Cranston. The Chairman has shown he is serious about the race, having loaned 25,000 dollars of his own money to his campaign. It remains to be seen whether Sepe can raise the additional money and create the organization he needs to win, but given the Cranston Police Department scandal, he is in with a decent shot.
HOT
Paul Doughty
The Providence Firefighters Union, led by Doughty, their president, offered free rides home last night to people who had too much to drink wouldn't have been able to drive safely. This was the second year of the program's existence, and was a classy move by the Providence Fire Department.
HOT
John Taylor
Maybe the doomsday predictions for Twin River were completely wrong. The Chairman of Twin River Casino lands himself on this week's hot list after an article ran in The Boston Globe which claimed that Rhode Island's casino is vastly outperforming Plainridge Park Casino in Plainville, Massachusetts. The article posited that area gamblers prefer the larger size of Twin River and more gaming options, which is a tremendous advantage for Twin River.
HOT
Gas Prices
Golocal reports this week that the average gas price in Rhode Island is inching down towards $2 a gallon. That's a huge relief for the average Rhode Islander, and a boon the economy, as it means consumers have more money to spend on other purchases. It's also a huge feather in President Obama's cap, as president's, rightly or wrongly, tend to get credit or blame for the price of gas.
HOT
Mystic Aquariam
Here's a nonprofit making an investment in the tourism economy right outside of our little state. The aquarium is slated to begin a construction project that will build a new Ocean Conservation and Research Center that will expand the Aquarium's scientific focus on aquatic animal health and behavior. The project will renovate the existing aquatic animal study center and construct a new building, all of which will promote marine animal care and health practices in both aquarium and zoo settings and in natural habitats.
HOT
RI NAACP
It's not easy to fight for equality in society without being polarizing, but the strong leaders of the Providence branch of the NAACP, including President Jim Vincent, and Youth Council Leader Pilar McCloud have found ways to do exactly that. The local NAACP always makes its voice heard on relevant issues of racial equality in society and civil rights, and brings rational, and logical points to the debate. For that, the local NAACP chapter was named "RI's Nonprofit of the Year" by GoLocal--a much deserved honor!
HOT
2016
The beginning of the new year is always a time of hope for so many Americans. And for a state whose motto is "hope", let's hope 2016 brings peace and prosperity to us all.
NOT
Gina Raimondo
The Governor's inability to understand that she cannot build consensus without transparency remains her biggest obstacle to moving the state forward and implementing her agenda. She still refuses to reveal the locations of where she plans to put toll gantries that would be constructed as a result her controversial truck toll proposal. Instead, the governor's office sent the Republicans in the House of Representatives a group of documents, one of which detailed the roads in Rhode Island back in 1882. It's baffling that someone as brilliant as Raimondo cannot grasp such a simple concept.
NOT
St. George's
The exclusive Prep School located in picturesque Middletown, has admitted, after denying it for decades, that at least 23 students were molested by faculty members and staff at the school. The school face a lawsuit that could force it to pay tens of millions in restitution that could very well threaten the school's financial viability.
NOT
The House GOP
The statehouse Republicans have been very aggressive, and effective in fighting the Governor's truck toll plan, yet one of the biggest political disappointments from the last year was the fact that every single member of the House Republicans voted for Speaker Nicholas Mattiello's budget, despite the fact that it included a new tax on health insurance, a new tax on vacation rental homes, and increases in cigarette taxes. Hopefully the House Republicans have learned their lesson and will be not just vote for a bad budget because they liked one or two things in it.
NOT
Teresa Paiva Weed
Most of the talk surrounding the Raimondo Rhodeworks Proposal, which would build new toll gantries thoughout the state that would supposedly be only for trucks (I'm skeptical), has centered around the House of Representatives. But that's only because House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello, at least at first, resisted the plan. Paiva Weed, however, acquiesced immediately. If she hadn't, perhaps the plan wouldn't have as much momentum as it does.
NOT
New England weather
There's nothing like the unpredictability of the weather in the North East. On Christmas, everyone was walking around in shorts and without jackets. Yet 4 days later, the area was blanketed by a storm that dropped snow, sleet, and rain all over the state of Rhode Island, which obstructed the morning commute. At least the weather keeps us guessing!
NOT
Bill Belichick
The legendary coach of the New England Patriots is coming off of arguably his worst coaching game ever. Belichick was inexcusably conservative in lat week's game against the New York Jets. He didn't allow his powerful offense, led by Tom Brady, who some believe to be the best quarterback to ever play the game, to go for points at the end of both halves. Then, Belichick opted to start the overtime on defense. That predictably backfired and led the Patriots to a loss and a potential loss of the number 1 seed in the AFC. Even the great ones have bad days.
